Accident or Assault? Syrian Shells Hit Lebanon

Lebanese farmers were likely confused Wednesday evening when they noticed that Syrian heavy artillery guns were firing shells onto their land. One said that "at least five shells landed in the fields and in the village," and a 25-year-old Syrian refugee was injured, according to a Reuters report from Lebanon. The violence comes a day after Lebanese officials reportedly told a senior U.S. official that they would stick to any financial sanctions imposed upon their neighbor, Syria. An unnamed banker who says he was at the meeting told Lebanon's Daily Star, "We told U.S. Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen that Lebanese banks have no intention to have any kind of transaction with Syrian and Iranian financial institutions." It's unclear if (or how) Lebanon will respond, though Lebanese Army officials have vowed to stop the violence from crossing the border in the recent past.

Of course, it's almost impossible to say with any certainty that the two events are linked -- the shelling could have been a simple accident, a badly calibrated cannon. But bombs hitting foreign lands are bad news for the situation in Syria regardless of the explanation. Just hours before the shelling, the United Nations Security Council gave the thumbs up to Kofi Annan's six-point peace plan for Syria on Wednesday, a strong sign that Syrian allies China and Russia are definitely done waiting for things to calm down. After all, the U.N. estimates the death toll has reached 8,000 (others have put it higher) over the past five months, and even Syria's strong allies China and Russia are on board with the new plan to end the violence. Syria shelling other countries is most definitely not included that plan.